Higher Than The Alpha (#Wattys2014) »ᴄɵᴍᴘᴌᴇтᴇ«

TWENTY-SIX

TWENTY-SIX – Ketchup [Victoria]

"I'm home!" I shouted to mum.

I frowned when I didn't get an answer. "Mum?"

Walking into the living room, she wasn't there. But the T.V. was on, showing How I Met Your Mother was on. Turning the T.V. off to save money, I wondered into the kitchen. Mum never left the T.V. on. Hell, most of the time she switched it off at the plug as well.

"Mum?" my frown deepened when I saw ketchup dripping off the counter. What the hell was she doing? "Mum?"

Stepping forward, I came around the middle counter to see a red trail head towards the back door. What on earth?

Get out! My tiger snapped at me. I blinked, realising that she'd been trying to get my attention for a while.

I hushed her, frowning at the trail on the floor. Why would she spread ketchup all over the floor?

Find, Lex! My tiger demanded. Go! Danger!

Danger? What–?

The sudden creak on the floorboards behind me made me turn. "Mum–?"

I'd never felt my eyes go so wide. Never felt my heart pound had hard and fast as it went. Never felt myself pant in such sudden fear as it twisted my stomach so fast it made me want to throw up.

It was him. Covered in... Oh God. He was covered in blood.

Suddenly my mind clicked, none of it ketchup. It was blood. It was blood that was dripping off the counter, in thick drops. It was blood that was spread across the floor. And my mind knew whose blood it was... had been.

"Where's my mum?" I demanded from the Alpha wolf in his human form.

His black eyes and smile was cruel. His black shirt, trousers, and trench coat were streaked and splashed in blood that dripped off the leather coat like it did off the counter onto carpet. Smears of blood covered his face, his previous blonde hair was now and thick bloody red. And his hands... they were covered.

I wasn't quite sure what I felt in that moment of knowing. Grief? Anger? Or was it rage? Or was it something else? What was that pain called? Could it be called something? Whatever it was, at that moment, seeing so much blood, I knew deep down that my mum was dead. No-one could survive loosing that much blood.

For a moment, I wondered how Lusan hadn't scented it. Because surely, he wouldn't have let me come in here if he had. Maybe I'd over shocked with the hug I'd given him? Or was the Alpha wolf sane enough to hide the scent? Because surely my own cat would have warned me?

I blinked at the Alpha wolf as I saw him move for me. It was more instinct and reflex that kept me out of his arms. I blinked as I found myself near the back door. My cat was keeping me alive, and for that, I... wasn't sure if I was grateful.

As the Alpha wolf glared at me, I turned to go outside. I probably shouldn't. I knew that. But, even though I knew the truth, it didn't quite feel real yet.

I only had a second to see her for the last time before the Alpha wolf was chasing me away into the alley, that once I turned right, would take me into woods that have always been there.

She was dressed in a pale blue top, and darker jeans were heavy with her own blood. Her strawberry blonde hair was streaked with crimson. Her light brown eyes held a mist in them that had never been there before. And then that was when I saw the hole. In her chest.

I felt a sob rack my body as I let my tiger take over. She'd only been forty-seven, she'd only had half her life. It wasn't fair.

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